Unite the Union – Scotland’s largest union – has today (Wednesday 28 December) released polling data which shows that thousands are taking on extra work to pay the bills.

The poll of 1501 Unite members discovered that twenty-four percent of those surveyed had been forced to take a part-time job to cope with the increased cost of living. The poll also established that ninety per cent of those who had taken on part-time work done so to supplement their existing salary.

The poll found that the group’s disproportionately taking on part-time work included people living in medium-sized and smaller towns who have very strong ties to their local area and families and couples in affordable homes in areas historically reliant on manufacturing.

The latest unemployment figures for Scotland illustrated that 8.5 per cent of the population were out of work – higher than the UK average of 8.3 per cent. Part-time work has increased from 624,000 (April 08-March 09) to 670,000 (April 10-March 11). This means an estimated 97,000 workers have a second job.

Unite Scottish Secretary, Pat Rafferty, said:

“The level of workers taking on a part-time job to make ends meet is astonishing. Due to the rising costs of living, entitlement reductions and real terms pay cuts tens of thousands of workers in Scotland are working round the clock to pay the bills and provide for their families.”

“This is the untouched story of the financial crisis. It’s clear from our poll findings that the Scottish and UK Government’s need to do something about the scale of this issue. If we do not, then we are going to have a workforce which is stressed, burnt out and with little time to spend with their families.”